revival
by no cure for crazy
Summary: No one knows that she's alive. Except for Oliver. In fact, this whole thing was her idea. She asked him to help fake her death in the hospital


AN: So this is quite the mess and I'm still not a hundred percent sure what it is exactly, but I managed to write this long ass thing so I wasn't going to just let it sit in my documents, collecting dust. And this started from a random photo prompt and was supposed to be short but then turned into the monster it is now. So I hope you try to find something to enjoy in here.

Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own any of these characters. Otherwise Dinah Laurel Lance would not have been treated liked trash...

* * *

The brunette sits, curled up on the bed by the headboard, staring at her phone, the phone she's thought constantly about getting rid of to replace with a burner. If she's being honest with herself, getting rid of the phone should have been the first thing she did.

But she can't bring herself to get rid of it. She's become too attached to it – the last reminder of the life she was forced to leave behind. To disappear from for the time being.

Perhaps it'd be easier to get rid of it. To not have that constant reminder but she can't seem part to with it. Doesn't want to part with it.

She was originally supposed to be healing from an arrow wound and surgery, trying to get better while pretending to be dead. Now she's just hiding from Darhk until she can get a handle on this new ability of hers…but she can't stop worrying about her father, Thea, Cisco, her team and the flash team.

She's even started worrying about Nyssa. Even if she's sure the assassin can handle herself. And Sara, who Laurel doesn't even know _when_ she is. Traveling through time with her band of misfits and all that.

But no one knows that she's alive. Except for Oliver.

In fact, this whole thing was her idea. She asked him to help fake her death in the hospital. So she wouldn't have to look over her shoulder while her wounds healed. And to make it seem real, no one could know.

She can heal in peace without the threat of Darhk on her head. She doesn't have to worry about him coming back to finish the job….

She just hopes that her father doesn't turn to the bottle again, like he did when Sara died.

Her phone vibrates gain, grabbing her attention. She glances down at the device and feels a tug at her heart.

 _I miss you_

 _I wish I could hear your voice._

She gotten similar message from Thea, wondering just how desperate the younger woman could be to text a number of someone thought to be dead. It makes this whole situation that much worse, and Laurel wants nothing than to respond. To just pick up the phone and call Thea, but she knows she can't. Doesn't want to put a higher target on Thea, doesn't want to put a target back on her own head.

 _This is how it has to be Laurel…_

It just kills her, letting a girl she sees as a sister believe she's dead just so Darhk can't come after her again.

Laurel has also gotten a few messages from Nyssa. Not as much, but often enough that it makes Laurel wonder when Nyssa started caring about technology. And it also makes her wonder if Nyssa knows or believes that Laurel isn't actually dead.

Laurel is sure Nyssa does know, or at least suspects something – is trained to know something is off.

Her thoughts are interrupted by a soft knock and the door slowly opening.

"You're not dwelling on everything are you?"

"Maybe," Laurel admits, turning towards her visitor and offering a small smile, one she knows is quite pathetic.

"I know it sucks and all, but you made one of the only decisions you could, given the circumstances."

Laurel sighs and runs a hand through her hair. "I just wish that made it easier, Babs."

Barbara wheels herself over towards Laurel's bed, reaching out to give the brunette's knee a reassuring squeeze.

"Sometimes the right decisions aren't always the easy ones."

* * *

Over the next few days, Laurel can't shake the feeling that she's being watched. In fact, she know she's being watched whenever she leaves with Barbara to the clock tower hideout, or if she's just training or running around the city. She's working to get her stamina back up to what it was before she was pierced by a damn arrow.

She's also trying to get used to this new found ability of hers ever since she was caught in that explosion caused by Scarecrow. But she doesn't know if she'll get used to the fact that she doesn't have to keep strapping on her sonic device collar to make the canary cry.

She relaxes only a little when the days pass and nothing bad happens to her. She knows it's not an enemy watching her.

Not yet anyway.

Although she'd be lying if she didn't think she saw a few ghosts milling about in the dark corners of Gotham. But she reverts that to being slightly on edge, just waiting for the day Darhk figures out that she's still alive and comes back to finish the job.

That night is when she finally gives up trying to believe that no one's there – besides Laurel knows who she _wants_ it to be, she only knows one person who would actually be searching for her, given everything. And she hopes she's right.

"You can come out you know," Laurel says into the air of the empty apartment.

Laurel is met with silence.

She sighs and runs her hand through her darker hair. She dyed it after Oliver helped her fake her death and she came to Gotham. Figuring it would be a little easier to blend it – if only a little bit. "Never mind, I guess," she ends up muttering to herself.

"I could not believe that it was you," a familiar voice echoes from the corner and Laurel feels a tug at her heart from the hurt laced in the words. "Even if I needed it to be true."

Laurel spins around to face the corner the voice came from. A few moments later, Nyssa steps out from the shadows, coming closer into the glow from the moon through the open window.

"How – how long have you suspected?" Laurel finds herself asking. "How long have you been watching?"

"Since Oliver has not been acting like someone who just lost a team member," Nyssa explains and after a few moments she adds, "and I have learned how to read him – I knew he was hiding something."

"I'm sorry," is the next thing about of Laurel's mouth. Truly she is. She can't even imagine what her father or Thea or everyone else is going through, believing she's dead. But she can know for sure that they're struggling.

"It was something that you had to do," Nyssa replies as if it's the obvious thing to say, as if the decision to run – to hide didn't kill her every day since she left Star City.

"I just knew that Darkh wasn't going to stop if I survived and I needed to heal away from the city where he couldn't find me," Laurel knows she's rambling now, not knowing how to really explain herself but also knowing that she doesn't need to. That Nyssa _understands_ , but it's the rest of her team that she's worried about because she knows she'll have to face them, have to explain it to them.

Especially Thea and her father.

"Sometimes the right decisions are not always the easy ones," Nyssa echoes the same words Barbara told her just last week. "And you just have to do what needs to be done."

Laurel runs a hand through her hair. "I just hate having to lie to everyone."

"You had to make sure Darkh would not come after you while you were trying to heal," Nyssa responds. "Otherwise, it would have been for nothing….Although, I am certain that some of your ghost friends have been spotted in Gotham."

Laurel leans against the side of the couch, letting the news sink in. Of course they'd be someone here, watching.

 _I guess I was right…_

She almost scoffs. Wonders how she could have tricked Damien Darhk of all people into thinking she was dead.

"So he knows."

"I did not say that," Nyssa responds. "But I do think that he suspects, just as I did."

Laurel nods before the two women lapse into silence. After a moment, she glances up at Nyssa and asks the questions that she needs to know the answers to, even if she's not sure she should know. "How is everyone? Thea? My father?"

"Your father is doing as well any caring father would after losing a daughter," Nyssa says, slowly, as if she's trying to decide how to tell Laurel.

Laurel feels that like a knife to her heart.

"He came to me, begging me to use the pit to bring you back," Nyssa continues, forcing the words out. "And I had to tell him I destroyed it months before….and he – he's," she trails off.

"He's desperate to get me back," Laurel finishes for her.

Nyssa nods. "And Thea is dealing with Malcolm and everyone else is trying to figure out how to bring Darhk down and mourn you at the same time."

"Sometimes I wonder if all of this was worth it," Laurel admits, twiddling her fingers together and staring at the floor. "If I should just come out of the shadows instead of just hiding."

"Would that be worth it?" Nyssa prompts, closing the rest of the distance between the two.

Laurel forces her gaze up to meet the eyes of the woman in front of her. "Things have changed since I've been in Gotham – _I've_ changed ever since I was out with the Bat and was caught in something that I still can't explain and I've gained some new contacts since being here that could help us if I asked."

"I did not show up here just to drag you back to Star City."

Laurel pushes herself to stand. "I know you didn't, but I think it's time I get ready to go back. I think it's time my father stops living with the pain of losing me, same with Thea and the rest of the team."

"Well it is your decision, Laurel…I just hope you choose wisely."

"I have more reasons to go home and bring this bastard to justice, than I do staying here, waiting for him to figure out that I'm not dead and come to finish the job," Laurel says.

"Well if you're ready to leave, I can't force you to stay," Barbara says from a distance causing the two woman's attention to be drawn to the doorway. "But honestly you should only leave if you're sure you're back up to your normal strength and have a grip on that ability of yours."

"Thanks for the same ole advice, Babs," Laurel tosses out as Barbara wheels her way further into the room. "And if all else fails with the cry, I can make a stop in Central City at Starr Labs – I'm sure they'll love to know that I'm not dead."

"Cisco would love to know that he's favorite superhero isn't dead, that's for sure," Barbara adds.

"Oh and this is –"Laurel starts introducing Nyssa but is cut off.

"Nyssa Al Ghul – daughter of Ra's Al Ghul…sister to Talia," Barbara lists off with a shrug of her hand. "Yeah I know….Barbara Gordon, hacker extraordinaire. I know these things."

"You know my sister, then."

"Not as well as Bruce does," Barbara replies. "But that's not what's important here, - what's important is the game plan for getting Laurel back to Star City."

"Does it include a new suit?" Laurel tosses out, with a playful wag of her brows, following Barbara across the apartment, Nyssa trailing behind her.

"That's a task for your friend, Cisco."

* * *

It's because of that, that Laurel finds herself in Central City outside S.T.A.R.R labs, her hair slowly getting lighter. There's a little bit – actually a lot of – confusion and an interesting conversation between the team and the man she knows as Harrison Wells from Earth 2 or whatever it is.

She's even more confused when Barry says, "She's not Black Siren…she's Laurel Lance."

" _Our_ Laurel Lance," she hears Caitlin add in. "But I don't understand how."

Laurel goes to answer but closes her mouth when she hears Cisco in the distance, walking through the doorway behind her and her head turns of its own accord. "So Siren is still safely in her cage and still as rude as she was before. Not to mention still a sad imit…" he trails off when his gaze lands on Laurel.

"No way. No. Freaking. Way," is the first thing out of Cisco's mouth after a moment of speechlessness.

"There's a lot to explain," Laurel tells him, saying the same five words she knows she's going to be repeating a lot.

"I was just – and then – what?" Cisco mumbles together, his hands flying around, pointing this way and that as he tries to take everything in.

"I faked my death," Laurel throws out, glancing around the room, ripping off the band aid.

"Because of Darhk?" Barry supplies and Laurel nods.

"Why show up now?" Wells asks from his place on the other side of the labs with his arms crossed. "Seems fishy."

Laurel raises an eyebrow and crosses her own arms in response. "As we've already established, I am not whoever this Black Siren person is, so you can drop your hard ass act."

"She's you but not you," Barry explains, stepping closer to the center of the lab. "From Earth 2, but that's not the important thing here."

"What's important, is why I'm here," Laurel adds for him before jumping into an explanation that she'll have to repeat again, omitting a few irrelevant details here and there. Honestly she's not sure what she'd be doing if she had learned of Darhk's men showing up in Gotham, but that's unimportant. She even briefly explains her encounter with whatever she was caught in.

"I'm tired of hiding in the shadows, waiting to see if he's going to make a move," Laurel finishes. "And I need answers for whatever happened to me."

* * *

"I'm really glad you're not dead, by the way," Cisco tells her later when only the two of them and Caitlin are still in the lab. Caitlin running tests and Cisco working on a rough sketch of her new suit which he won't show her.

"I just –"Laurel starts but trails off. She sighs and runs a hand through her hair. "I feel like I owe everyone more of an explanation but at the same time…"

"It's bound to be awkward at first," Cisco tells her, honestly. "When you first go back to Star City, but I'm sure once you give it a while, it'll all blow over."

"He's right you know," Caitlin adds, walking back over to the duo. Caitlin need lapses into an explanation of the tests she ran on Laurel. That whatever was in that explosion she was caught in the middle of changed her DNA, merged with it and made her a metahuman.

"It still doesn't really explain how it happened. It's not like I was caught in the particle accelerator explosion," Laurel says once Caitlin finishes.

"Sometimes and as much as I hate to admit it, things like this can't really be explained," Caitlin tells her, sitting the clipboard she was carrying on the table in front of her.

"But this new you will have a badass new suit," Cisco says, not looking up from the sketchbook placed in his lap. "And you're going to love it."

"I only believe you because it's you," Laurel responds.

* * *

Almost a week later, Laurel finds herself on a rooftop in Star City with Nyssa donned in a newly dyed blonde hair, a new suit with a few more fishnets; allowing for easier movement and a choker instead of a sonic device.

Cisco was right, she does love it.

Though she's not a hundred percent sure she'll get used to not having to use the sonic device….at least not anytime soon.

"Do you think Oliver is going to like this?" Nyssa questions while they wait, watching the street below where Darhk's ghost and her team are in combat.

"Probably not," Laurel admits, with a shrug. "But that'll be his problem to deal with….and maybe he'll get over it."

She can already picture the argument she and Oliver may have over this, but she's healed and she's tired of sitting, waiting. She needs to do something, she needs to be that hero she promised to be when she first put on the Black Canary suit.

She refuses to hide anymore, especially if her death was about to be exposed anyway.

And so she braces herself and lets out a shriek.

* * *

"Didn't think you needed me to save your ass," Laurel tosses out when it's over, Darhk's men have scattered and they've made their way back to the liar.

Felicity spins around in her chair, taking in the scene in front of her, glancing between Oliver, Thea, John and the newly not dead Laurel.

"What the hell are you thinking?" Oliver responds.

"That it doesn't matter where I hide because Darhk is going to find me," Laurel tells him, crossing her arms after pulling off her mask. "There were ghosts spotted in Gotham….and I was tired of hiding and lying."

"Will someone please tell me what the hell is going on?" Thea yells over top the two of them.

Laurel steals a glance at Thea, Felicity and John out of the corner of her eyes and sees the confusion in their eyes. The hurt and everything else she expected to see.

"I'm sorry that I've put you through all of this," Laurel says, with a small, sad smile. "I didn't know what else to do and I didn't want to still be here, weak and vulnerable, waiting for him to try and finish the job."

"Why make us think you were dead?" Thea asks and Laurel knows that the younger woman is trying to force back tears.

"I thought it would be easier to hide while I recovered," Laurel tries to explain. "I thought maybe it would keep Darhk from using anyone I cared about to get to me, to draw me out, if—"

"If we all thought you were dead," Felicity supplies.

"Yeah."

"And you _knew?"_ Thea spits out, spinning on Oliver. "This whole time you knew and you let us mourn, let me mourn when you knew all along that she was alive and safe. You _lied_ to me again…"

"It was my idea and in the hospital I asked Oliver for help. He only did it because of me."

Thea lets out a breath and quickly turns on her heel, stalking across the bunker.

Oliver moves to go after his sister, but Laurel places a hand on his shoulder, stopping him. "Just give her a breather for right now. She's just had a lot thrown at her."

"Laurel's right," John agrees, running a hand over his face. "We all just need time to let this sink in…But for the record, I'm glad you're not dead."

Laurel returns his smile with one of her own before he turns and disappears, leaving Laurel with Oliver and Felicity.

"So I guess we should be used to people coming back from the dead and not actually being dead," Felicity says, trying to diffuse the tension.

Laurel tucks a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. "I should see my dad."

"Are you sure it's safe?"

"Ollie, if Darhk wasn't a hundred percent sure that I was alive before, he is now," Laurel tells him, slipping her gloves from her hands. "Or at least the fact that there's a copycat Black Canary in the city."

"It wouldn't be the first one," Oliver comments, turning away to place his bow on the table. "But there is a difference this time…you don't have your sonic device." He adds, turning back around and crossing his arms.

"That's a long story," Laurel replies with a shrug.

* * *

"So how mad are you at me?" Laurel asks, walking into the living room of her old apartment, a place she didn't really think she would set foot in again.

"Not mad," comes Thea's reply. "Just….hurt, I guess. All the times I wished I could hear your voice….the voice mails I left to a dead person's phone….the texts. I mean, I know why you did it, but –"

"I know it's a lot to take in," Laurel tells her.

"Too much has happened in the last few months," Thea admits, slowly turning around to face the blonde. "With Malcolm, and Darhk and now you…Which I'm really glad you're not dead, by the way."

"I see you still live here," Laurel comments after a while.

"I couldn't leave the only place that reminded me of you," Thea says, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. "I couldn't let the only part of you I had left go."

That pulls at Laurel's heartstrings, which causes Laurel to close the rest of the distance between them and place a comforting hand on the younger girl's shoulder. "I don't think I can ever make up for what this put you through."

"Just don't leave again," Thea tells her, leaning her head against Laurel's shoulder and wrapping her arms around the blonde.

"I won't," Laurel promises, returning the embrace.

* * *

Laurel plans to go see her father before he gets wind of the new Black Canary sightings but she doesn't find him at home, and she doesn't want to go to the precinct. Not just yet anyway.

Doesn't need too many people knowing she's alive. Not this soon.

Instead she finds her father when she returns to the bunker talking to Oliver.

"You want to tell me anything about these Black Canary sightings," she hears her father, hears the anguish in his voice – and she's flashing back to when she had to tell him about Sara. It breaks what's left of her already fragile heart. "Is it – is it her?"

"I'm not the one who should be telling you this," comes Oliver's reply.

"Why can't you just tell me?"

"Dad," Laurel says, closing the distance between them as quickly as she can.

"Laurel…"

"I wanted to tell you before you found out this way…but – I guess I was too slow."

It takes a while for the shocked expression to leave her father's face to be replaced with a more relived and happy expression. But still somewhat confused.

"I'm just glad that you found a way back to me," Quentin says as the distance closes between the two of them and she's falling into her father's tight hug. "I almost lost it - I – I did lose it when I thought you were gone."

"Nyssa told me that," Laurel says, pulling back from the embrace. "And I'm so sorry but with Darhk –"

"I don't have to like it or agree with it to understand why you did it," Quentin tells her. "Just - don't do it again anytime soon."

"It won't happened again, dad," Laurel assures him, placing a hand on his upper arm.

* * *

It's not until months later after they've taken down Darhk when she finally gets to see Sara again. When Sara and the rest of the legends randomly show up in Star City. Laurel, Thea, John, Oliver, Felicity and Curtis are in the liar when overlapping voices turn their attention towards the elevator.

Laurel barely says one word before Sara runs into her and throws her arms around Laurel.

"I thought you were dead," Sara breathes against Laurel's neck as Laurel returns the embrace, squeezing her younger sister maybe a little bit too tight. But she doesn't care and she doubts Sara does either by the way she's squeezing Laurel.

As if Sara though she was never going to see her sister again.

Because Sara thought she was dead...Her next thought is why her father or Oliver didn't tell her that Sara thought she was dead. That Sara had somehow found herself back in Star City while Laurel was in hiding.

"I-" Laurel says, unsure of what to even say. What should she say? What is she supposed to say?

"It doesn't matter," Sara responds, pulling back from the embrace. "Well I guess, in the end, it does. But not right now. I'm...I'm just glad you're not dead."

"Me too," Laurel tells her, returning the small smile Sara flashes.

"How are you not dead?" Ray asks.

"It's a bit of a long story," Laurel explains, stealing a glance around the room. "And I promise to tell you it later," she adds the last part to Sara.

* * *

Laurel finds Sara again later, after their talk, standing in front of a Black Canary statue the city chose to put up after Laurel's press conference to clear the Black Canary's name after she heard of the girl who impersonated her.

"So what's this all about?" Sara asks, not looking over her shoulder as Laurel comes to stand beside her.

"Star City decided to honor the hero who saved their newly district attorney and who hid her away until the threat on her life was gone," Laurel explains, glancing up at the statue. "Well at least that's the story I told them anyway."

"It's a good thing," Sara responds after a while. "That this city can finally start looking up to _someone_ in a mask…hopefully keep the darkness from creeping back and who knows, maybe they'll start being somewhat okay with the rest of the vigilantes."

"It's a step in the right direction," Laurel agrees.

"District attorney, huh?" Sara tosses out, stealing a glance at Laurel and crossing her arms. "Going to be a lot on your plate."

"I'm always one for a challenge," Laurel responds with a shrug. "Besides, who says I can't do both?"

"You're going to kick ass."

They stand like that for a while, staring out past the statue, at the part of the city they can see. Laurel doesn't know what the next part of her life will hold, but she'd be lying if she said she didn't feel excited to for it. For whatever and whoever life threw at her.


End file.
